


Slow Seduction

by Saziikins



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, M/M, There is some plot with this porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 11:12:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4744193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saziikins/pseuds/Saziikins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys and Shireen are out, and Davos and Stannis finally get a quiet night to themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Seduction

**Author's Note:**

> This follows on somewhat from Small Steps, in that the story of their relationship is the same, but it's three months on. And you don't need to have read Small Steps to read this. 
> 
> It's a bit more of a Davos exploration. There is a lot of intimacy in Small Steps, but it's very measured, very cautious intimacy. There is a lot more letting go in this.
> 
> (This is yet another example of the fact I can't write a one-shot without a desperate need to extend it. Anyway, this has been fun).

He turns the TV off when he hears the sound of the key in the door. He smooths down his jeans and jumps off the couch. Stannis has just dropped his briefcase on the floor and his eyes are narrowed as he looks around the hallway, as though he can’t quite work out what’s different.

Davos leans against the wall, grinning at him despite himself. He’s been waiting for this moment for months, for when it could be just the two of them in the house with no distractions. He’s been dreaming about it for the past fortnight, and planning it for the past week. And now the moment is here, he is intent on savouring it.

“It’s quiet,” Stannis says as he hangs his coat up, and he sounds suspicious. He looks around as though something might just jump out at him. “Where are they?”

“The boys are with their mum or on the school trip. Shireen is staying with a friend. It’s just us.”

Stannis slips his shoes off, lining them up on the rack. It’s unusually bare. In fact, the whole hall looks empty without the coats on the hooks and the football boots by the door. Davos loves his sons, and by default, he loves Shireen, but he can’t deny that he has been craving the peace and quiet.

Stannis’ face finally quirks into a small smile, and Davos pushes away from the wall to walk towards him. He stops moving when they are facing each other, not touching. They stand closer than two friends would, but there is no immediacy to intimacy, not like most partners would share. Stannis needs time to build up to touch. It’s a pattern they go through every day, and not something Davos minds. The more comfortable Stannis is, the more likely their evening will go the way Davos wants it to go.

In the stress of the past few months, their physical intimacy has been restricted to hugs and kisses. It’s not that Davos needs sex. It’s not like they’re teenagers anymore, and he’s plenty content with their lot. But sometimes he does imagine Stannis in the thralls of passion, and the image alone is enough to make him take himself in hand in the shower.

He doesn’t resent Stannis for it, not even a little bit. Davos knows if he had made a move on him, if he had timed it right, then he and Stannis could have enjoyed some blowjobs before bed, or at the very least, a rushed handjob in the shower. But they’ve both been busy and besides, it’s far easier to indulge when they’re not biting down on a pillow to stay silent.

Finally Stannis reaches out. He presses his fingertips to Davos’ cheek, and the faint smile remains on his face. “All night?” he asks, and Davos answers him with a grin. He kisses Stannis’ lips, still cool from the chill outside.

“All night. And all of tomorrow morning.”

Realisation of what that means dawns on Stannis’ face. For the next 16 hours, the house is theirs and theirs alone. But his pleasure is quickly replaced with suspicion. “What are you planning?” he asks.

Davos grins. “Nothing you won’t like. Takeout for dinner, a glass of wine, and then maybe we’ll go to bed early. You go and get changed, I’ll order the food. Chinese?”

Stannis agrees and heads upstairs. Stannis isn’t ambivalent to sex, not like Davos thought he might be when they first got together. But he hadn’t been involved with anyone in such a long time, he had forgotten the steps. The first time Davos used his mouth on him, Stannis came so quickly Davos hardly had time to show off his full repertoire of licks and tricks. It’s different now.

They haven’t been together long. But nine months has still proved to be enough time to get acquainted with one another’s bodies and learn what they each like. And even with the dry spell, Davos knows he remembers how to get Stannis going. If he had been in his 20s when they met, the dry spell might have been a problem. But they’re both in their 40s and it’s less of a priority. Sex is to be welcomed though, for the connection and the release alone.

When Stannis joins him in the kitchen, he’s wearing a grey polo shirt, just the bottom of the three buttons fastened, and there’s a teasing bit of chest hair poking through at the top. His feet are bare, and he is wearing grey pyjama bottoms with checked red lines. Davos has to catch his breath, because this is a rare sight indeed, especially before dinner.

“I take it you’re pleased,” Stannis says as he sits down, and while he doesn’t actually smile, he seems rather smug as he begins to uncork the bottle of wine.

“I’m thrilled. I feel over-dressed.” Davos sits down opposite him and watches as Stannis pours them each a glass. It all feels very civilised in this large house with its expensive furnishings, and a million miles from the life he imagined for himself.

His friends don’t understand their relationship. They see Stannis as restricting and controlling, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Where in previous relationships, Davos felt like he was given a long leash as it suited him, here he feels no leash at all. He has always needed his freedom, his space. He always dreamed beyond the horizon, and it’s why the docks and boats always appealed to him.

Stannis has always given him the time and space to disappear for a while, to go for a long jog through the park, starting in the morning and not returning ‘til dusk. And though he carries his phone with him, Stannis never texts. Stannis is beginning to get used to Davos’ sons, and they to him, and it gives Davos the chance to go for walks by the water’s edge, a thing he hasn’t done since his firstborn, Dale, came into the world. When he comes home, Stannis doesn’t bombard him with questions about where he has been, but implicitly trusts him instead.

It’s a trust they’ve built over seven years of Davos answering to him at work. Stannis has always trusted Davos to carry out his tasks without needing an overseer. Somehow that’s translated into their relationship too.

Davos holds his glass up and taps it to Stannis’. “You have to toast to something,” Stannis reminds him, rolling his eyes. “You don’t just clink the glasses together.”

“Well, what do you want me to toast to?”

“I don’t.”

Davos laughs and has a sip. “So, is there anything you especially want to do tonight?”

Stannis regards him for a moment. “I haven’t had time to think about it. I was expecting a night of boring television.”

“This is better though, right?”

Stannis pauses for a moment before he nods his agreement. He reaches across the table, lifting Davos’ hand and inspecting the bruise on his nail. “What did you do?”

“Trapped it in a drawer. It’s my fault, I was rushing about.”

Stannis rolls his eyes, but he decides not to let go of Davos’ hand, running his thumb over the length of his fingers. He’s not gentle necessarily, and it’s not part of tonight’s seduction. But Stannis likes it when things are just as he left them. Davos thinks Stannis has taken the bruise as a personal affront, and if he could, he would teach the drawer a lesson.

“You need to be more careful,” Stannis tells him sternly, releasing his hand.

Davos smirks at him, leaning on the table with his arms crossed, because he knows it drives Stannis mad. “Yes, boss.”

Stannis’ eye twitches, and he’s trying very hard not to smile. This is the fragile part of their evening, where Davos tries to ease Stannis’ mind. He’s spent so many months full of sleepless nights, and its only been in the past fortnight where he’s finally begun to relax. He ran the law department at Baratheon Industries, but now he is setting out on his own, without his brother’s illegal practises to play on his mind.

He still worries about Robert, and about Renly, and the inevitable fall-out, but it isn’t his responsibility anymore. It is taking some time for him to find his feet and get used to his small dingy office in the centre of the city. It doesn’t have the striking views of the ocean his former office had, and in many ways, it is a step down. But Stannis is beginning to find a love for his work. He is beginning to share details over dinner, and it’s slow but steady progress to have him talk at all over their meals.

He doesn’t demand his own space now, not like he used to. He comes home earlier, and though he still works late, he does it in his own office or at the table in the living room if the boys aren’t being too noisy.

When the takeaway arrives, they talk about work over dinner. They’re communicating so much more now. Stannis has begun to recognise the importance of conversation, and is learning he doesn’t need to carry everything on his own shoulders. The hardest part now is Davos still works for Baratheon Industries, and he will need to leave eventually, before the ship sinks. But he doesn’t fit into Stannis’ new business, and he doesn’t think he’s savvy enough to start his own.

He gets this off his chest as they finish their meals, and Stannis listens and contemplates, and promises to give it all some thought. Stannis is a practical man and will not share his ideas until they are fully-developed. Davos won’t either, and he won’t admit a longing for the sea, because he knows he can’t take a job which would take him away from home for days at a time.

Those days are behind him, but sometimes he does still crave the wind in his face and the power of the waves. It doesn’t feel like sacrifice, because this is the life he has chosen, and he knows being away from Stannis and his children for days isn’t an option, and nor does he want it to be when he considers it seriously.

But a little bit of him is still looking out of the window, to what he might find outside the city.

Davos washes up the dishes and Stannis does the drying. With their stomaches full, the first glass of wine settling any anticipation, they move to the living room. Stannis has grown into the habit of sitting close to Davos on the sofa and he does so now, touching from shoulder down to knee.

There will come a point in the night when Davos will need to lead the way. Where he will need to take the initiative and make it clear what he desires. But for now, he is content to leave it in Stannis’ hands.

Stannis speaks a little about the boys’ future plans, and universities and the like. He’s taking an interest and making suggestions, but he is not trying to be a second father to them. He is available if they want to speak to him. They know he can make practical suggestions, and that he is intelligent. They know they have to approach with caution, and at the right moment, and Davos is often a go-between. But they are becoming more of a single unit now, with lines drawn and positions clear.

Stannis is the first to make a move. Davos waits for it, and waits for it, and he is tempted to put his hand on Stannis’ knee or wrap his arm around his shoulders. But he chooses instead to wait, and he is rewarded when Stannis rests his forehead against Davos’ temple.

“I keep expecting to be interrupted,” he says, and his breath brushes against Davos’ cheek.

“We’re not going to be,” Davos promises. He slowly turns his head, and he touches the tip of his nose to Stannis’. Stannis huffs a breath at the gesture, and Davos smiles at him.

Stannis is right to expect to be interrupted. So often, they’ll stand alone in the kitchen, or the living room, and they’ll share almost a full minute together only for something to send them spiralling back to earth. They’ll stand in the corner of the kitchen, and conversation will fade away and Davos will tilt his head for a kiss. And he knows from the way Stannis is looking at him that he’s going to respond, and perhaps it won’t be chaste either. But then there will come a crash from the garden or shouts from the lounge as a playfight goes too far, and the moment is gone.

They’re like glass, those brief moments they have together. They hold onto those stolen minutes and long for the rest of the world to pause for a while so they can enjoy one another’s company.

But tonight they can.

Davos holds Stannis’ eyes. He is waiting for Davos to make a move now. And had they only been expecting an hour alone, then Davos probably would have grabbed his hand and dragged him to the bedroom. Not tonight. If Stannis expects Davos to move quickly, then it makes it even better that he won’t.

Instead, he kisses Stannis’ cheek, stretches his legs out in front of him and picks up the TV remote. He can sense Stannis’ confusion, and Davos wraps a hand around the back of his neck so he knows it isn’t a rejection.

“Your favourite show’s on,” he says.

Stannis narrows his eyes. “But you hate it.”

Davos smiles, shrugs, and turns the television on. To his delight, Stannis relaxes again and rests against him. The show will last for 60 minutes, which gives Davos 60 minutes to build the anticipation between them.

It’s not a tactic, not really, he doesn’t think it through that much. But he keeps his hand on the back of Stannis’ neck, a place he knows Stannis likes to be held. It’s possessive, but Davos thinks Stannis likes to be reminded that he belongs somewhere.

And so after a few minutes, Davos moves his thumb. It’s a slow, deliberate gesture, masquerading as something unconscious. It’s a light touch, brushing against the sensitive skin on the side of Stannis’ neck. Stannis is a man of control, and his only reaction is to part his lips. But Davos notices it.

He doesn’t concentrate on the programme. He watches Stannis out of the corner of his eye. He feels his shiver as Davos’ fingers trail down his bare arm. He strokes his fingers against the inside of his elbow. He tilts his head against Stannis’. He whispers in his ear, asking if he would like another glass of wine. His lips touch his ear and he watches Stannis swallow as he nods.

Davos leans forward for the bottle and tops of up their glasses. When he sits back down, he rests his hand on Stannis’ thigh. He checks the time on Stannis’ watch, and when there are five minutes left to go in the programme, he starts to move his thumb against the inside of his thigh. Stannis shifts in his seat. He turns his head and he leans in towards Davos. “I know your game,” he murmurs and Davos grins.

“No game,” he replies, and he tries to stay casual, but Stannis is clearly done with his documentary, and those piercing eyes are fixed on Davos’ face. Davos keeps watching the programme as it comes to an end. When the credits start and he turns his head, Stannis looks like _he’s_ the one about to do the dragging to the bedroom.

But that’s not the way it goes. They don’t need to do that. So Davos cups his lover’s cheek with his hand. He leans forward and tilts his head as though to initiate a kiss, but he doesn’t go straight for it. It’s a dance, a seduction. Soft, teasing touches. And slow. All slow.

He knows Stannis is waiting for him. Stannis can lead once they get going, but Davos has to begin it all. He’s happy in that role. It makes him feel important and needed, and before Stannis, he hadn’t realised just how much he wanted to be useful and to serve and to do what was asked of him.

He presses their lips together. Stannis lets go of a breath he’s been holding and it feels like sheer relief. Davos guides their kisses, and he marvels at how their lips seem to fit together. Stannis shaves daily, but Davos’ beard brushes against his soft skin. He begins to trail kisses along Stannis’ jaw, and Stannis lets his eyes fall closed. Davos keeps watching him.

One of Stannis’ hands is gripping the back of the sofa and the other is on his own knee. Davos takes hold of that hand. He strokes the length of his fingers and touches the inside of his wrist. He lifts it so he can kiss his knuckles and then the tips of his fingers. Stannis opens his eyes to watch him, and there are complex, conflicted emotions swimming in his eyes.

Davos thinks he’s the lucky one, because Stannis is a rare find, something to be treasured. He’s complicated and although he appears settled and controlled on the outside, on the inside his worries and habits are bundled up and he’s wound up tight, afraid of letting go. Afraid of letting anyone see him.

Stannis doesn’t think he’s deserving of worship. He’s just a man, plain and ordinary and widely disliked. He has grown up to learn it doesn’t matter how intelligent you are. If you’re not gregarious and overly friendly, like Robert, or attractive and mischievous like Renly, it’s hard to get by. He’s wrong about that, Davos thinks, because he’s not like Robert, or like Renly, or like Stannis and he has done just fine.

Despite Davos’ kisses, Stannis’ jaw is still clenched, his knuckles turning white from where he grips the sofa. He’s expectant, but it’s making him doubt what he should be doing while Davos’ attention is fixed on him.

A change of tack. Davos cups his cheeks in both his hands and kisses his lips, more firmly than before. Stannis parts his lips but hardly responds, and Davos kisses his cheek and then his nose and his filtrum before pulling back to consider him. “We don’t have to-”

“-I want to,” Stannis cuts him off, and it sounds like he is telling Davos off for even considering they stop. “The television’s distracting.”

Davos grins and reaches for the remote so he can switch it off. But without it there as background noise, now they can both hear everything more acutely. Their breaths sound more forced, and Davos’ stomach gurgles and he laughs because no matter how he tries to be seductive, there’s nothing sexy about digestion.

“Come on,” he says, standing up and reaching for Stannis’ hands. “We’ll be more comfortable in bed.”

Stannis uses the en-suite while Davos ensures everything they need is in arm’s reach in the bedroom. Stannis still hasn’t joined him, so he uses the bathroom down the hall. He hasn’t thought through what happens next, but he suspects Stannis’ head is going at a million miles a minute, and he is over-thinking everything.

Essentially, Stannis needs to be turned off before he can be turned on, and Davos doesn’t want to speak too highly of himself, but he knows he has a particular skill in that area.

Just because he can, he walks back to the bedroom in only his boxers, carrying his clothes with him. He dumps them in the corner of the room and smiles as he closes the door. Stannis is sitting up on the bed, and he swallows when he sees Davos there.

Davos doesn’t mind his own body. It’s wearing a bit with his age, but he still has strong shoulders and his runs keep him reasonably trim. He eats more healthily now he lives with Stannis, and he’s lost a few pounds in the past few months. He is comfortable in his own skin. He has scars, a great number of them, but he likes the stories that they tell. He has enjoyed sharing those tales with Stannis, even the ones which were hard to say aloud.

He sits down on the bed so they’re facing one another. Stannis’ eyes are still mapping his body, and Davos feels warmth spread over him. No matter what he thinks of himself, he knows Stannis is attracted to every inch of him.

He kisses Stannis’ lips and Stannis’ hand cups the back of his head. Davos closes his eyes and doesn’t think too much about what happens next. He lets out pleased hums, and that only seems to encourage Stannis further.

There’s something to be said for going slow, Davos thinks. It’s been a while since they kissed for so long. It’s something which disappears from relationships, in Davos’ experience. Kisses like this become a signal for sex and nothing else. And although that is the inevitable destination for this evening, he’s content to let this last.

Stannis begins to lead the kisses after a while, focusing on Davos’ bottom lip and then his top one, his fingers stroking through his hair, his other hand on Davos’ knee. Davos keeps reassuring him with his sounds, stroking Stannis’ neck with his fingers. Stannis shivers, and Davos takes the opportunity to straddle his lap.

He checks Stannis’ face for reassurance, and Stannis nods to him, tentative fingers resting on Davos’ chest. Davos leans forward to kiss his neck, and Stannis tilts his head to offer him access. Davos keeps it gentle, because the last thing he wants to do is give Stannis stubble burn.

“I love how you react when I kiss you,” he whispers, his lips travelling behind Stannis’ ear. “And when I touch you… right here…” He brushes his fingers over Stannis’ right nipple through his shirt, and it’s enough to cause the man to shudder, and dig his fingertips into Davos’ shoulder. Davos smiles in a self-satisfied way.  “And you like it when I do this,” he continues, kissing Stannis’ throat. He touches the hem of Stannis’ shirt and again, he wordlessly asks for his consent. Stannis lifts his arms above his head, and Davos works the garment up, letting his knuckles brush against Stannis’ skin. He drops it down on the floor and he immediately bows his head to lick and bite Stannis’ nipple. He smells of the deodorant he must have sprayed while he was in the bathroom. 

Davos knows when Stannis stops worrying and starts to relax, because he finally lets out breathy sound of his own, one of relief and surprise. The palms of his hands smooth over Davos’ back and through his hair.

He has missed this. He realises how much now, when he feels Stannis harden against him. That he’s the one to make Stannis surrender to pleasure is never short of a miracle to him. He rests his cheek to Stannis’ chest, and listens to his heart.

“What are you doing?” Stannis asks him as his arms wind around his shoulders to keep him there.

“Just checking this is all having the desired affect.”

“And is it?”

Davos grins and palms Stannis’ erection through his cotton trousers. He groans when he realises Stannis isn’t wearing underwear, and Stannis simultaneously tries to arch into his touch, but Davos is still in his lap and keeping him down.

Their eyes meet, and it’s like a switch has been flicked. Stannis pulls Davos towards him and slams their lips together, and has to apologise when their teeth clash together. Davos laughs against his mouth and tells him it’s fine before renewing the kiss.

One of Stannis’ hands work inside Davos’ boxers and grabs his arse and he gets the message. He wriggles away for a second so he can pull them off and he sits down at Stannis’ side. He hooks his fingers inside the waistband of Stannis’ trousers, and Stannis arches his hips up so Davos can pull them down.

Stannis is paler than Davos is, with a fine chest of hair and a longer cock, now hard and leaking precome. Davos swipes his thumb over the head of Stannis’ prick and then licks his thumb and Stannis pulls a face. But he can’t mind that much, because he’s kissing Davos again, and pushing a bottle of lubricant into his hand.

Later on, Davos assures himself, he will kiss every inch of Stannis’ body. Perhaps he will give him a massage, and rub his feet and if he’s able, will give him a second orgasm.

But for now, he can’t ignore Stannis’ wordless demands. It’s clear it’s been too long for both of them. Stannis is holding Davos’ face in his hands and he kisses him like it’s the last time. When they pull apart, Davos kisses him again for good measure, because it sure as hell isn’t the last time. And although Stannis thinks he has given Davos plenty of reasons to leave, Davos knows he never will. Stannis’ fears are baseless, and Davos will spend his life proving that to him, and it doesn’t matter that his assurances never seem to sink in.

He sits between Stannis’ legs and puts a pillow under his hips. The tension begins to edge back into Stannis’ body, nervous apprehension, because Davos is the only man who has ever been inside him. Stannis hasn’t quite learned the art of it yet, of letting his body relax to make it easier.

That’s just fine, because they have time. Davos teases him with his fingertips. He kisses his hips and his thighs and he speaks, because it’ll give Stannis something else to focus on.

“Yeah, I remember the first night I had you,” he says, and he has to palm himself with his spare hand, because his cock is aching at how utterly gorgeous Stannis is, spread out beneath him. He’s so trusting, putting himself in this vulnerable position. One hand grips Davos’ shoulder, and his other holds onto the headboard. His eyes are closed and he lies still, but for his deep and steady breathing.

“Do you remember that too?” he asks, and Stannis gasps as he pushes one finger inside. Davos holds it still, but he continues to kiss Stannis’ stomach and his cock, before finally, finally curling his finger. Stannis arches his back and lets out a constricted groan. “We had that bath, do you remember? We got the sheets all wet…”

“It was your fault,” Stannis manages to say, but his voice is breathy and he sounds wrecked already.

“No, it was all you. All you and these long, perfect legs…” Davos strokes his hand along Stannis’ shin and kisses his thigh. “It’s one of my best memories, you on that hotel bed with my t-shirt in your mouth so you didn’t make a sound…”

Stannis pushes down against Davos’ finger, and squeezes his shoulder. “Get on with it,” he demands, and Davos happily obliges, adding more lubricant before pushing in a second finger. Stannis winces and bites his lip.

“Steady, steady,” Davos whispers, soothing him, and presses his other hand flat on Stannis’ sternum. “Remember what I said about breathing.”

Stannis rolls his eyes but he does take the advice, and Davos guides his breaths with his hand, feeling his muscles relax around his fingers. He moves them slowly, before curling one, searching for Stannis’ prostate. Stannis lets out a keening sound as he finds it, and then clasps a hand over his own mouth as though shocked he made such a noise.

Davos groans his response. “That’s it,” he says, and he strokes his own cock. He’s done well to be so patient, but the sight of Stannis lying there fulfils every fantasy he has had of late. Just a few more minutes, he thinks. He stretches up to kiss Stannis chest and lick and suck his nipples and Stannis is finally telling him he’s ready and to hurry up.

Davos teases him a bit longer with his fingers just to be sure, because Stannis isn’t as in tune with his own body as he thinks he is.

But he soon has Stannis’ legs around his waist, Stannis’ mouth on his, and he’s pushing inside. He has to break the kiss, because he can’t kiss and focus on breathing and press inside as slowly as he is all at once. He buries his face in Stannis’ neck and grits his teeth. His body needs to push inside in one quick thrust, to take and claim, but he keeps himself in check.

Stannis is grasping at his back and then with one final motion, he’s buried balls-deep inside his lover. He lifts his head. “Are you alright?” he asks. There’s a thin line of sweat on Stannis’ forehead, and his eyes are blown.

“Yes,” he says back, and they continue to stare at one another. They’ve known for some time that it’s love, that it’s very real, very serious. There are children involved, so they’ve had to be serious from the start. But it feels like everything has really come together tonight.

Stannis’ silent fragility is written over his face, and Davos kisses him before he begins to move. He wishes he could hold onto this moment and keep it in his mind forever in surround-sound. Because Stannis is gasping, and ever so often, he lets out a desperate groan and digs his nails into Davos’ back.

Stannis is an active participant, but it’s only now, now they’re entwined and physically closer than they can possibly be that Stannis finally leads the way. He makes demands, for Davos to stop, to go slower, quicker, quicker. And oh, the words that almost finish Davos off, when he says: “Let go. I want to feel you let go.” Stannis kisses him hard and wraps his own hand around his cock.

Davos does as he says. He can only manage a few of those hard and frantic thrusts and he stills and he comes with a guttural moan, and it’s all about Stannis and only about Stannis. His hips stutter with every pulse of his orgasm, and one of Stannis’ hands are on his face, and it’s tender and it’s beautiful.

He opens his eyes and he manages to watch the moment Stannis comes too, his head thrown back, his own hand working his cock. He spills over his hand and his stomach. His eyes are closed, and he only lets out a breathy groan. They are each panting for breath, and Davos can barely keep himself upright.

He carefully withdraws and collapses down on the bed beside Stannis. He’s hot and sweaty and sticky, and too dazed to do anything about it. He opens his eyes and glances at Stannis, who is lying on his back, one hand on his chest, the other tangled in the covers.

Davos knows better than to touch him now. Stannis is full of heightened emotions and he reacts badly to being held after he comes. Davos thinks it hits Stannis in these moments just how vulnerable he’s allowed himself to be, in giving himself wholly to another person. He needs some time to settle, to re-balance. That’s fine, because Davos is too exhausted to move anyway.

He closes his eyes and cools off before he reaches for the tissues beside the bed and cleans himself. Stannis is watching him, and Davos hands him the box. He kisses Stannis’ forehead then slips off the bed to use the bathroom.

When he returns, Stannis is in the middle of changing the sheets, and Davos helps him finish the job. They settle under the covers, and Davos lies on his back and waits. After a short while, Stannis’ hand finds his. Davos looks over at him. He has a faint smile on his face, and though he looks tired, he seems unwilling to close his eyes.

Davos opens his mouth to say something about how good it was, when Stannis silences him with an unexpected kiss.

“We can sleep, can’t we?” Stannis murmurs against his lips. “And we’ve still got time before…”

“Before real life gets in the way,” Davos finishes for him. “Yeah. Yeah, we’ve still got time.”

Stannis nods, kisses him once more and settles down onto his side. He falls asleep facing Davos, one hand on Davos’ chest.

Davos drifts off and dreams of vast oceans and navigating the seas. When he wakes up to a cup of tea and Stannis watching him with a pleased look on his face, he feels as free and content as he ever has.


End file.
